Super smooth and silky on the palate, a bit creamy, thin-ish watery mouthfeel. Little carbonation in the feel. Light, but distinct, caramel and toasted malts. Touch of metallic and grain. Very little bitterness. Raw-ish herbal character, with a milky flower pith edge. A bit bready and grainy in the finish with a coarser feel on the palate vs. the smoothness of the start, going dry and more-ish.

A very enjoyable light Scottish Ale and an easy choice for a session beer. Solid. Though ... I would have preferred a bit more malt backbone.

More User Reviews:

Poured a deep brown with a reddish hue with a thinner light brown head some chunks and floaties swirling around.Light aromas of choclate malt and caramel maybe a hint of hard water or iron.A very soft malty flavored brew up front light chocolate and caramel flavors with an underlying herbal English hop flavor that comes thru more in the finish and as it warms.A thinner bodied beer but very sociable, a nice Scottish "small" beer.

A 500ml bottle poured into a pint glass. It was a cloudy brown with a thin head that had an oily sheen to it. Nice aroma: toffee, butterscotch, dark fruit. However, something happened between the aroma and the taste. Initially sweet, then nothing was there, then some sharp hops showed up. Not a very pleasing taste. Doubt that I'll try this particular Scottish Ale again.

Pours a clear, mahogany body with a small, but lasting, beige head. Island chain patterns of lace decorate the glass.
Aroma is subdued, with caramel and toffee notes, and herbal, leafy hops in the background.
Mouthfeel is smooth, medium bodied, with good carbonation.
Taste mirrors the aroma, with sweet toffee and caramel notes balanced well with the herbal hops bitterness. A pleasant twang of minerals is noted throughout, which adds to the character.
This is a very easygoing, Scottish ale that is very highly drinkable except for its above average price tag.

Medium brown and clear appearance. Sturdy pale yellow head, long lasting and creamy -- settles at under 1/2 an inch. Laces in partial drips. Nice aroma, toffee with jazzy nutmeg and a definite floral hopping showing through. Smooth mouthfeel, a little light but quaffable. Starts with butterscotch and some maple sugar, very nice transition to a cinnamony and prickly hop. Finishes lightly but continuing in the enhanced bittering, like a sound turning up. A thumb's up brew in my book, composed, subtle, but making a point.

Pours a deep amber colour with a creamy head which dimishes to lacing left all the way down the glass. A good malty nose with some faint hops making themselves known. The citrusy hops were a surprise in the taste for a Scottish beer and the caramel malts balanced out the hops nicely, and the beer finished pleasingly bitter. Slightly thin mouthfeel but nevertheless smooth. A nice ale, although I prefer Inveralmond's Ossians Ale, but certainly a decent offering from the folks in Perth.

A really nice beer; near dark amber colour, a light aroma with vague hints of of the taste character, a thin off white head and stable body, quite bitter to the taste with a coffee finish but still very flavoursome. This is, to my view, a beautiful beer, more often than not this will be in my selection if I am on a Scottish ale run! If you see it give it a shot!

From the Inveralmond Brewery in Scotland comes an astonishingly full-flavored session ale. Its slightly hazy (it's bottle-conditioned), deep copper colored body borders on chestnut; resting gently geneath a long-lasting head of creamy white foam as its very fine bubbles slowly rise to the surface. The nose displays a distinctly rich, caramel-drenched maltiness. The body is surprisingly full, adding to a fuller perception of malt in the flavour; and its very fine, natural carbonation leaves it exceptionally creamy and smooth across the palate. In the flavor, a hint of some darker malts (perhaps a touch of roasted barley) lend depth to its rich, caramel side; and some subtle, delicately spicy and grassy hops round it out. The maltiness is perfectly balanced by its firm bitterness, and leads to a dry finish (that's again surprising given its full maltiness). A really well brewed beer that shows a clean fermentation and impeccable sense of balance. Quite exceptional, and certainly one of the best Scottish ales available at this time!

A: Poured a dull weathered cranberry color with a 1 finger spongey head that was short lived and was beach sand in color. The head lapsed to a patchy covering filled with bubblewrap type bubbles that produced a thin film ring band for a lacing. Held against the light the coloring appeared a bright cherry-cranberry and showed random bursts and release of carbonation bubbles.

S: The nose was fruity with a brief show of apples upfront before quickly giving way to a toffee and caramel presence. Sugary grains and wort appear while the finish rounds out with a caramel chew candy fade.

T: My initial impression was the flavor came off a bit thin in delivery. There appeared to be a decent level of maltiness trying to come out but never quite convinces me. A spicy hopping of fuggles seems oddly mis-paired here producing fruity tones. Red grapes, juicy pears, and melons are noticeable and again oddly misplaced. For the finish the caramel malting finally comes back into play giving a scotchy caramel character with light peat and a dry spicy fade of nutmeg. The label claims this to be distinctively rich which I think is a bit of a stretch of the imagination if you ask me.

M: The mouthful was light to medium bodied but felt lighter the longer you held it. Oily texture with very little, if any carbonation detected. Overall was rather boring with the exception of the swallow which finally produces some maltiness and scotchy caramel character. Despite its limited abv of 4.7% this did give the impression it was slightly higher. Finishes with a dry spicy coating with a slight malty residue lacing.

D: Drinkability was fair, though one would be it for me. Rather boring, lacked maltiness, and incentive to have more. A bit thin and almost watery at times makes this go down rather easy but the lack of flavor and heart certainly don't help matters here and made me hesitant towards the next sip. Overall a good aromatic experience that goes down hill from there.

Bottle: Poured a dirty light amber color ale with a rather large foamy head with good retention and some good lacing. Aroma of dry English hops with lingering peats malt notes (or maybe I was dreaming but seems there was definite smoke notes). Body is quite full with good carbonation and light alcohol level makes this even more enjoyable. Easily drinkable though quite complex - finish was maybe a tad too dry.

Pours semi-cloudy dark amber/caramel color without any discernible head.
Aroma of toffee, tangy hop notes with some minor peat and/or smoke.
Flavor of rich deep caramel sweetness followed by a minor peat hit and some residual bittering.
Mouthfeel is hard water, slightly buttery and biscuity with some sweetness and very minor bitter.
Drinkability is very pleasant but nothing outstanding.

I find I really like or really don't care for Scottish beers (or, to be fair, the Scottish beers available to me in Southern California). This "Stone of Destiny" beer did not do it for me.

$4.59 for a 0.5 liter bottle at La Bodega in Riverside, CA, July 2006.

Pours a clear amber, with an odd, off-grey head (a color I never thought I would use when describing beer). A ton of dark yeast chunkies fell into the glass almost from the beginning of the pour. I don't mind yeast floaties or chunkies at all, but this was a touch overwhelming.

Aroma is a rich dark deep malt, quite roasty. Flavor is of strong hops, very sharp, with a pronounced yeast quality (what a surprise). A bitterness reminiscent of overboiled coffee finished it for me- not recommended.

The beer dispense from the 500ml bottle an almost opaque brown with tinges of ruby at the edges, head admirable, creamy and light tan in color, stays for a while, then leaves the lace to conceal the glass. Nose has a deep rich malt sweet aroma, caramel, toffee and a bit of peat, maybe a twig of heather, quite nice, clean and crisp to the senses. Start has a sweet malt presence, touch of spiciness at the back, light to moderate in feel. Finish has a pleasant acidity, the hops understated, but adequate, sweet toffee to the dry end, quite a good drinking beer, seems I find less and less Scottish ales.

Christmas Eve 2012 at home with my Dad: we shared a few bottles of beer together. This 500ml offering being the last before Santa came! Best before Apr 2013.

Like the cask version, it had a clear mahogany body with an off-white head: the nose a nutty, semi-sweet malty feel to it. The taste was malts all the way: chocolate and toffee being the strongest flavours within the maltiness. Dryness, with a pronounced bitterness comes later with the hops showing their worth as initial maltiness drifts away. The cask review is just pipped at the post by the overall niceness of it being Christmas!

Poured smooth like a country stream. Nose has some interesting sweet qualities: toffee, butterscotch, thick malts, dried fruit like raisin, prune, fig. It just continues to grow with some light milk chocolates, a creamy, subtle blond coffee flair, maybe some very faint wood. As it warms & blooms the oak quality rises, as do the peaty malts and even some distant smoke...very nice.

Head is root beer float style, thick, sculpted, sticky and viney to the glass sides, a good 2 fingers of dull latte foam that lasted long, fading only to a pinky's worth of the same while lacing with thick curtains. Body is a beautifully clear, sharp cherry amber, warm & somewhat brassy, inviting. All & all a treat for the various pre-taste senses!

Very nice, a little creamy, smooth with not a silky but a a crushed velvet burr to it on the tongue in the form of bittersweet malts, caramelized, a wee bit burnt. Stone fruits like dark cherry and black currant, dries fruits such as raisin & fig, all there but soft. There is a brashness to it, a bit unrefined, slightly earthy & dirty, even a echo of dark chocolate, but thats not necessarily a bad thing.

It gets more bitter with hops on the palate, and then (sadly) fades away with a chalky, coating, almost burnt, slatelike aftertaste...bummer.

This was great in all aspects until it got to the mid-taste on the palate, then it fell off sharply. What a shame. Still, it was good, and I'll give it a 4 on Taste, but just barely. Its certainly better than a 3.5. I can't say that I would keep a ready supply on hand, but I would drink it again on occasion. Might be helped by a good cheese to fill in the dead spot. I'd recommend it, but there are other examples of the style that are better. If you like a bit of a crudeness to your ales, then definitely give it a shot.